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Launching a new attack on a beleaguered sect --- and a test of Canada's polygamy law -- authorities have charged two leaders of a small community in British Columbia with practicing polygamy.
The move comes after an investigation that has taken more than three years and raised debate over whether Canada's protections for religious freedom prohibit charges against those who practice polygamy as a religious tenet.
The men arrested Wednesday and scheduled for later release are Jim Oler, 44, and Winston Blackmore, 52, leaders of separate factions in a community known as Bountiful, just outside of Creston.
The population of approximately 1,000 follows the practices of the polygamous Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, traditionally based in Hildale, Utah, and Colorado City, Arizona.
The low-profile Oler, who works in the timber industry, is the bishop for FLDS members. He is accused of having two wives, and is charged with one count of "practicing polygamy" between Nov. 1, 2004, and Oct. 8, 2008.
Some community members are instead led by the affable and more open Blackmore, who was bishop before he was exiled from the sect in 2002. Blackmore, accused of having 20 wives, is charged with one count of "practicing polygamy" between May 1, 2005, and Dec. 8, 2006.
The charges carry a maximum of five years in prison. Blackmore and Older are scheduled for an appearance in Creston Provincial Court on Jan. 21.
The ages of the wives are not an issue in the charges, though some of the women may have been under 18 at the time of the marriages, said Sgt. Tim Shields, a media relations officer for the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. Shields said investigators have not found any wives currently under 18.
British Columbia Attorney General Wally Oppal said in a press conference that he does not believe religious freedoms protect Blackmore and Oler. "The fact is, the law is quite clear," he said. "It prevents polygamist practices from taking place."
Critics of the community had called for an investigation for years, alleging the polygamous lifestyle is inherently abusive to women. But Willie Jessop, a spokesman for the FLDS Church, said the charges reveal a "vindictive attitude" toward the religion.
"This is clearly not about underage marriage," Jessop said. "We've been very specific that we do not condone underage marriage and haven't for several years."
He said Oler and the church will face the allegations head-on in court.
The arrests have alarmed followers in Bountiful and at the sect's Texas ranch near Eldorado, Jessop said. Texas officials raided the ranch last April and temporarily removed 439 children. A grand jury has since indicted 12 men, including jailed president Warren S. Jeffs, on charges related to underage or plural marriages.
Jeffs, 53, has been convicted in Utah of being an accomplice to rape for conducting an underage marriage. He is awaiting trial in Arizona on similar accusations.
The Canadian prosecution, Oppal said, stems from an investigation into Bountiful that began in 2005. In 2006, the mounted police recommended filing charges of polygamy and sexual exploitation, but no charges were immediately pursued.
In June, Vancouver attorney Terrence Robertson was appointed as an independent special prosecutor, and a follow-up investigation began. Robertson approved the two charges in early December, and they were filed Tuesday.
Oppal said there was not enough evidence for sexual exploitation charges, but added the investigation is ongoing. The conditions of the men's release include limits on their travel and an agreement they will not perform any spiritual marriages, Shields said.
Ivan Nielsen, leader of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints and the Kingdom of God, a Salt Lake valley church, said Blackmore suspected for quite a while that Canadian authorities might be targeting him.
"Winston has been doing a good job taking care of the people," he said. "Everybody knows his lifestyle up there. For them to come in now and say something about it is ridiculous."
Blackmore has associated with Nielsen's church but does not hold an official position, Nielsen said.
Jethro Barlow, an ex-FLDS member well acquainted with Blackmore, said, "It will be interesting to see the difference in how Jim handles this and how Winston handles this since they are making two test cases."
He said Oler has been a quiet leader who follows directives from church leaders in the U.S., while Blackmore has been more "forthright."
Mary Batchelor of the Utah-based Principle Voices, advocates for groups who consider themselves fundamentalist Mormons, said Blackmore's family is "stunned and obviously upset and dealing with the situation as best they can under the circumstances."
Members of related groups are saddened by the arrests because they know Blackmore and many have relatives in the community in Canada, she said.
While the doctrine tying plural marriage to exaltation in heaven is rooted in early Mormon theology, the mainstream Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints disavowed polygamy in 1890.
-- Tribune reporter Steve Gehrke contributed to this report.
Bountiful's accused leaders
Winston Blackmore, one of two men arrested Wednesday for allegedly practicing polygamy, is an outgoing community leader who has invited journalists to his family farm near Lister, on the Canadian-U.S. border north of Idaho.
At 52, he has more than 100 children and Canadian authorities allege he has 20 wives.
Blackmore had recently served as bishop for members of the polygamous Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, who began settling decades ago in the area called Bountiful in British Columbia.
But in 2002, he was ousted by then-FLDS president Rulon Jeffs. The community split in two, with some residents following Blackmore and others remained with James Oler, 44, his low-profile replacement and the second man arrested Wednesday.
Before the split, the men worked together at Blackmore's timber company.
Some saw Blackmore's eviction as a tactic to strengthen current president Warren S. Jeffs' position as his father's successor. Following allegations that Jeffs and others had mismanaged a trust set up by the sect, Blackmore has cooperated with authorities who took over a Utah property trust. The United Effort Plan Trust has holdings in British Columbia as well as in its traditional home base of Hildale, Utah, and Colorado City, Ariz.
Utah Attorney General Mark Shurtleff had no comment on the Canadian arrests, according to spokesman Paul Murphy.
Blackmore's wives have included at least four U.S. citizens. Three of them have drawn media coverage for their fight to stay in Canada after their applications for permanent residency were rejected in 2006. One of the Americans, Edith Barlow, said at the time that she believed the orders were based on prejudice.
-- Pamela Manson and Brooke Adams